


I wanted to dance

by MPantrochilles



Series: The Children of Heroes [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Disabled Characters, Gay Characters, Gen, Hugo is deaf, Lily and Hugo are best friends, Lily has a stammer, Yule Ball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 22:23:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8031268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MPantrochilles/pseuds/MPantrochilles
Summary: Lily really wants to go to the Yule Ball, and Hugo has some great ideas.





	I wanted to dance

Lily Luna Potter made a lot of noise for someone who generally didn’t like to talk. She hummed, or sang, or tapped her feet or clicked her fingers or mumbled nonsense words. Talking, however, was not something that came naturally to her. Her tongue and lips refused to co-ordinate with her brain, so ‘t’ sounded like the wheels of the Hogwarts’ Express, they were repeated so many times; her face would balloon as she attempted an ‘f’,  and her lips would seem to get glued together any time she tried ‘m’.

Lily Luna Potter considered herself very lucky as well. Three months after she was born, Hugo came into the world. It meant that they grew up learning to sign together, and were taken to speech therapy together- and the world was a little less lonely. Lily wasn’t sure what she would have done if they hadn’t been placed in Gryffindor together. She suspected making friends may have been more difficult. They came as a pair, you see- Hugo saying what she signed if she was really struggling that day, and she would sign what others said for him when his hearing aids short-circuited from the magic overflow. Uncle Bill was working on fixing that. Even after all these years, muggle technology and magic struggled to integrate.

When they got to Hogwarts’, it quickly became evident to the teachers that they would have to teach Lily and Hugo differently to the other students. They would participate in normal lessons each week- and there would be at least four or five explosions because something was misheard or mispronounced. (Uncle George had been incredibly proud when they came back home for Christmas the first time, to report- with miserable faces- that they were a nuisance to the school and McGonagall.)  But then, on Saturday afternoons, McGonagall would take them to her office, and teach them how to master non-verbal magic. When she’d first suggested this idea to their parents, they had been baffled but incredibly proud. Non-verbal magic was exceedingly difficult for even the most talented witches and wizards. McGonagall had insisted- and found that sure enough, Lily and Hugo were able to perform non-verbal magic with relative ease. She suspected that their control over their magic was heightened because of their disabilities.  

Lily and Hugo were making their way back to the Gryffindor common room after one such lesson, but instead of their usual smiles, they looked angry- or perhaps upset? The Fat Lady let them in with a sympathetic smile, and they entered an almost empty common room. The second and first years had disappeared, and the third years were all individually sulking. The older years were in their dorms getting ready. It wasn’t fair that only the fourth years and up got to go to the Yule Ball. Lily and Hugo had tried to persuade their cousins to take them, but they were all only allowed one guest (after a particularly disastrous event one year when Teddy was in fourth year, and someone had invited a younger sibling- who then invited the rest of the school- and someone spiked the punch and a lot of first years got drunk). They’d all wanted to take a date instead of them.

No, they weren’t bitter at all. (They were very bitter. Even though they’d been promised that “their time would come”. )

They set themselves down in front of the fireplace- Lily lay on her stomach, writing performance poetry that she may never perform, and Hugo sat beside her, writing music he may never hear. They did this a lot- trying to defy the impossible. They’d started a club- it was only the seven of them: Alice, Hugo, Lily, a blind first year named Heather, an autistic seventh year named Leon, a fifth year called Max who has cerebral palsy, and the wheelchair bound Professor Corner- who had been paralysed from the waist down during the Battle of Hogwarts. Each week, they’d challenge themselves to do something impossible, and they’d meet on Sunday evenings in Professor Corner’s office to show or discuss what they’d done.

It was a helpful support group to have.

Lily felt the ring on her left middle finger buzz, and she turned to Hugo.

_How’s the poetry going?_

_It’s spiteful._

_It’s only a dance._

_I don’t care._

Hugo laughed- he hadn’t minded not going to the ball so much, but Lily really wanted to dress up. He started to sign something else, but she interrupted him- pointing over his shoulder.

_Look behind you._

He turned to see Rose, dressed in a dark green, glittering gown. She looked nervous.

He smiles and swallows, before speaking. “You look really nice.”

Rose grins and bends down to hug him- when Hugo only speaks when he thinks it’s important.

Lily slaps him and frowns before furiously signing at him.

_She looks great! Alice is going to have her socks knocked off!_

Rose laughs at that, and waits patiently with a soft smile as she sees Lily trying to talk. Her mouth and throat convulse in a slightly unnatural, very exaggerated way as she tries to form a “y”.

“You look stunning,” Lily finally gets out, and she is extremely pleased with herself for managing the “s” so well. Rose leans over and kisses Lily’s head, and then Hugo’s.

“Wish me luck,” she simultaneously says and signs. She’s been ridiculously nervous. Alice was her best friend? She’d never been nervous around her? But she guessed it was because she wanted so badly for this night to go well- for Alice, who had been looking forward to Christmas since September.

The common room door swung open, and Alice walked in. She looked suave in a black suit and glittering green bow tie to match Rose’s dress. She’d decided against a dress at the penultimate hour, when she and Rose had gone shopping.

 _Your date is here,_ Hugo tells Rose, who pinches his nose before rising up off the floor. She knows Alice is here, she’s quite sure she’d forgotten anyone else was in the room.

Lily and Hugo watch as Alice and Rose leave- they’re meeting Scorpius and Albus outside the great hall and the four of them will make an entrance together.

Lily and Hugo go back to their respective tasks, only disturbed by James who yells good bye as he hurtles past them, still tucking his shirt into his trousers.

_I don’t think he’s ever been on time to anything, that brother of mine._

Hugo grins, _me either._

Lily sighs, and her whole body moves.

_I wanted to go. I wanted to dance._

_We can go next year._

_But I wanted to go with my brothers. This is James’ last year._

Hugo paused for a moment, pursing his lips. Lily knew what was coming next.

_What’s the plan?_

_We go watch._

_How Hugo? How the hell?_

He smirks and raises an eyebrow.

 _You know James probably has 5000 wards on that map right?_ Lily looks at him incredulously- but before she can stop him, Hugo has sprinted up the stairs, retrieved the map, and is sat back down next to her.

Hugo mutters, very quietly. “I solemnly swear I am up to no good.”

The map shows them everything- specifically, the tunnel from the kitchens to the great hall. Hugo puts the map away as he found it, and the two of them leave, racing each other down the halls until they get to the kitchens.

The house elves don’t question it as they enter, and they ignore them as they slip behind the tapestry.

It’s not long before Lily and Hugo are behind the door to the great hall- Lily can hear the music and laughter, and she tells Hugo to switch his hearing aids on. She casts a spell, and the wall becomes transparent- another spell and they can’t be seen.

_You’re brilliant._

_I know._

They watch as the students and staff dance gracefully, and not so gracefully, across the floor, which has been spelled to look like an ice rink. Rose is teaching Alice, and Scorpius is attempting to teach Albus- but both of them have two left feet. James is sat in the corner, chatting to Leon.

Lily and Hugo sank to the floor, and watched. They leaned against each other, laughing and commentating as the party went on. At one in the morning, Hugo woke Lily up to take her back to the dormitories. She wasn’t even sure when she’d fallen asleep.

But Lily Luna Potter was very sure that she was very lucky, to have a best friend like Hugo.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!


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